Dance to your heart's content

BREAKIN' (1984)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Breakdancing may have come and gone but optimistic, energized little movies like "Breakin" live on. Thirty years later, the movie still has electrifying breakdance sequences and three strong personalities that populate the screen - Lucinda Dickey, Adolfo “Shabba-Doo” Quinones and Michael “Boogaloo Shrimp” Chambers. There are mediocre elements here that deflect the grittiness but they are minor compared to the dancing that makes the movie.

Dickey is Kelly, a waitress and aspiring dancer who deals with a stern choreographer (Ben Lokey) who wants nothing more than her passion, eh, preferably between the sheets. One day Kelly witnesses the breakdancing moves of street performers with memorable names like Ozone (Shabba-Doo himself) and Turbo (Boogaloo Shrimp). They live to dance and amp up their ghetto blasters with pop techno music. Ozone is tickled pink by Kelly but he resists corporate interests and Broadway talent managers. Ozone and Turbo live to entertain the crowds, and perform competitions (with the help of an early performance by Ice-T as Rap Talker - the club MC) to outdo any rival crew's moves - one particular crew calls themselves "Electro Rock." Whoever wins has the audience gather and flock to the winner. Whoever loses, leaves the club in great haste. Why they nickname Kelly "Special K" is a question begging to be asked and borders on the level of parody.

Most of "Breakin" is chock full of upbeat dance sequences and in that spirit, it works. When the movie deals with Christopher McDonald as the agent who has a hard time signing up the trio for an audition, "Breakin" looks and feels as if it was assembled by committee, not by a genuine interest in the lives of street performers. Delete the mean choreographer and the too-good-to-be-true agent from another movie and we could have had a gritty expose of life in the streets. Shabba-Doo, Boogaloo Shrimp and Lucinda Dickey occupy a movie of heart, passion and ambition. The other elements occupy formula. See the difference? 

The World According to Robin Williams

ROBIN WILLIAMS - A SMILE HAS LEFT US

By Jerry Saravia

As fellow comedians Whoopi Goldberg and Billy Crystal tweeted, there are no words to describe the passing of one of comedy's few geniuses, Robin Williams. Robin had the ability to improvise an idea and build it and build it, and then segue to another idea from left field and build it, and build it and make you laugh in spite of yourself. The difference is that Robin possessed a manic energy and a superhuman speed of delivering jokes, which may range from his kids' demands, to network censors, to the Falkland Islands, to ridiculing politicians and comparing them to Warner Bros. cartoon characters, to even ridiculing his alcoholism and cocaine issues, and so much more. His delivery was rapid-fire, his tone comical and yet just slightly serious-minded without ever sentimentalizing. This is not so true with some of his movies, especially "What Dreams May Come" or "Mrs. Doubtfire," the latter an outstandingly funny movie until it aims for sentimentalizing divorce and its consequences.

Some Robin Williams movies were rotten ("Hook," "Toys," "Popeye," "Father's Day"), some were solid ("Good Will Hunting," "The World According to Garp," "Aladdin") and some were magnificent ("Awakenings," "Moscow on the Hudson," "Insomnia," "Dead Poet's Society," "Good Morning Vietnam") and some were just odd yet intrinsically fascinating ("The Big White," "One Hour Photo"). But there is one film that went beyond expectations, that soared beyond our imagination and asked us to see the humanity of quirky, eccentric characters on a quest to find the Holy Grail. Yes, it is the one-of-a-kind original, Terry Gilliam's masterful "The Fisher King" which contains my favorite Robin Williams performance. In the film, Williams plays a homeless man named Parry who is searching for the Holy Grail, haunted by visions of a blood red knight on a horse in New York City. Williams is warm, humane, gets naked in Central Park for laughs, and shows a romantic who finds bliss and solace not just in the arms of a woman (Amanda Plummer) but also in nature and in the everyday. It turns out that Parry also has a love for humankind (this may also describe Mork in TV's "Mork and Mindy"). That might also describe Robin Williams. The smile may have left us but the memories have not. 

Soporific peyote trance

RENEGADE aka BLUEBERRY (2004)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

The idea of a psychedelic Western is nothing new, especially when one thinks of Robert Altman's dreamlike Western filled with opium smoke, "McCabe and Mrs. Miller." Then there is "Blueberry," a music-video montage of endless, pointless, cumbersome images that add up to nothing. The effort is admirable, the execution deplorable.

Vincent Cassel is Blueberry, a Man With No Attitude, who is marshal of a small town. Before becoming marshal, he was a young kid who witnessed the death of a prostitute who deflowered him. Eventually, his own uncle is killed, and he finds himself being nurtured by Chiracahua natives who call him Broken Nose. Years later, Blueberry is in a town where there are the requisite bevy of prostitutes, amoral gunslingers, and not much else. Juliette Lewis is the spunky, Annie Oakley-type who sings "Danny Boy." Geoffrey Lewis (Juliette's real-life father) also plays her father in this film. There is also Colm Meaney as Blueberry's friend, Michael Madsen as the amoral villain who's searching for Indian gold, Eddie Izzard as a Prussian mercenary who may be trying for Marlon Brando's "Missouri Breaks"-type of colorful acting, and the welcome addition of Ernest Borgnine.

The movie is a mess, a beautiful mess to be sure. Vincent Cassel is a less than charismatic, blank presence - registering nothing at all that seems vaguely human (what a disappointment when you consider his hellishly alive performance in "Hate"). The cinematography is gorgeous to be sure with its widescreen vistas, but then so were John Ford's and Sergio Leone's westerns and they had more to say than this film. The peyote, drug-fueled imagery towards the end goes on way past the level of patience. Since we know next to nothing about the boring protagonist, why should we care about his peyote trances?

Based on Jean 'Moebius' Giraud's comic books, "Blueberry" is a pretty disaster that follows on the heels of superior films such as "El Topo" and "Dead Man." To paraphrase Orson Welles's own paraphrasing of Kipling, "It is pretty, but is it art?"

Tired Cool Factor

THE WAY OF THE GUN (2000)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Christopher McQuarrie's "The Way of the Gun" is a noirish crime story without the post-modern irony of Quentin Tarantino. Although this may be a refreshing conceit, the film is nothing more than disposable, mean-spirited, one-dimensional hogwash with no redeeming qualities whatsoever.

The convoluted story deals with two amoral sociopaths, Mr. Parker (Ryan Phillippe) and Longbaugh (Benicio Del Toro), who will either resort to petty crimes or minimum wage jobs. Thoroughly unsure of themselves, they head to a sperm bank where they overhear about a pregnant woman, Robin (Juliette Lewis), who has agreed to a $1 million fee to carry the baby of a wealthy oil tycoon and his desperate, gold-digging wife. The terminally stupid sociopaths decide there is a bargain here if they kidnap the pregnant woman for a fifteen million dollar ransom. Problem is they are new at this kind of crime, and have no notion on what to do next (heck, Robin is quicker at defending herself with a shotgun than they are).

Naturally, a cleaner or "adjudicator" (essentially a smooth hitman played by James Caan) pursues the trio, along with two bodyguards (the appealing coolness of Taye Diggs and the tactful Nicky Katt, who played a grimier, similar role in "The Limey"). This leads them to the seediest kind of motel just south of the Mexican border where Parker and Longbaugh are holding Robin hostage. And, to remind some of good old Sam Peckinpah, there is an overlong, tedious shootout involving the antiheroes and bag men, culminating in an empty fountain with broken shards of glass.

The film starts well enough, particularly the kidnapping scene amidst gunfire where Robin makes the mistake of not following the bodyguards' orders. Unfortunately, as written and directed by McQuarrie (who wrote the superior "The Usual Suspects"), there is scant character development and the personalities of the sociopaths are nonexistent - they are merely cartoonish types used as props to advance the plot. There isn't a single character the audience could possibly identify with except for Juliette Lewis's humane Robin, faced with carrying a baby while evading bullets, and screaming and hollering with pain through the whole movie while in labor. Lewis makes her character sympathetic but since she is not the main focus of the film; we are left with far too many ugly, emotionally corrupted people taking center stage. Boy, do I miss Kevin Spacey's Verbal Quint from "Usual Suspects."

James Caan adds a touch of vulnerability to the proceedings and has some clever lines (Examples: "$15 million is not money. It's a motive with a universal adaptor on it. Let's just say I deal in the fine art of adjudication.") He also has a touching scene with Geoffrey Lewis, a suicidal drinking buddy. In fact, it was nice to see Geoffrey Lewis share one scene with his real-life daughter Juliette, though I would have hoped for more than seeing them in another typical shootout. As for the leading troublemakers, Phillippe hardly has much going for him except for a noticeable accent, and Del Toro seems to be in a leftover drug-stoked haze from "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas." You want to see these two murderers rubbed out within the first half-hour, and that does not say much for McQuarrie. He makes the mistake of not instilling any humanity in these characters, so if he doesn't care, why should we?

Conflicted and burdened by repetitive shootouts and silly twists and turns, "The Way of the Gun" is an empty void with an ugly, interminable streak of meanness. Film noir at its most fatalistic tells us there is no escape from the world. Fortunately, you have the option of escaping from this travesty by way of the theater exits.

Xena: Warrior Princess The Movie! Or not?

DESATURATING OUR COMIC-BOOK HEROES

By Jerry Saravia

At the 2014 Comic-Con in San Diego, a new Wonder Woman still was revealed to eager comic-book fans. Who didn't love Wonder Woman from the comics and the Lynda Carter TV series of the 70's - the warrior princess with the red top, golden Lasso of Truth, the blue star-spangled shorts or culottes to some (used to be a long skirt in the "Sensation Comics"), the bright red boots, her tiara, her bulletproof bracelets, ready for action. Below are the original appearances of Wonder Woman, from her inception in the 1940's and the slight changes in appearance through the 1970's via the television medium.

At Comic-Con, the new cinematic Wonder Woman was unveiled and looked like this:

Granted, starting in 2011, desaturation of the Wonder Woman costume in a post-Christopher Nolan world of troubled superheroes began to take shape. Witness the Justice League comics from 2011 with the revamped look for Wonder Woman:

So why does the new Wonder Woman of the "Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice" film look like a warrior princess of the J.R.R. Tolkien world or a Xena wannabe than the American icon of primary colors of the past? We can ask the same question of the CW series of "Arrow" based on Green Arrow, accent on the green which is relatively muted in the new show, or the virtually burgundy red costumed look of the new CW "Flash" TV series? The old Flash from the comics, even the 1990's TV series, had the fiery red color of the very fast hero.

But what is going on lately with our comic-book heroes? Why desaturate the colors? I think the reason may be an international economic agenda. Most of these expensive epics, including "Iron Man 3," are released overseas first, specifically China where a lot of the money is made (witness "Transformers: Age of Extinction" which passed the worldwide 1 billion mark thanks to China's box-office grosses). Case in point with "Iron Man 3" - Tony Stark barely wears his red-gold plated armor costume through most of the film (although there is the Iron Patriot played by Don Cheadle). Marvel doesn't seem to extremely modify their heroes' costumes, except for the new Spider-Man, and the Avengers do stand pretty close to their original incarnations (Mark Ruffalo's super-sized Hulk is as green as the Hulk can be). The DC universe has taken the desaturation to its limits, however. Perhaps by muting the colors that so resemble our American flag and thus represent America (Wonder Woman, Superman, etc), it is an easier sell to foreign markets who are not keen on America and its standing in our world nowadays - in other words, nothing too American. Another odd circumstance regarding a high-profile franchise with a hero, Indiana Jones, was in the first teasers released for "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull." The International teaser did not feature the American flag as seen during the convoy of Army trucks at Area 51 - in the U.S. version, a close-up of the flag during the same shot is present.

The notion is practically more economic than political...and perhaps the Man of Steel costume may reflect a post-9/11 America or maybe the costume designers forgot that the look was reminiscent of Bizarro or the evil Supes from "Superman III." We can make all the excuses we want and justify such glaringly wrongheaded revisionism in general - I say, forget what the world thinks of us, and bring back our primary colors. I mean, who wants a desaturated "Dick Tracy" movie unlike the primary colors so evident in Warren Beatty's 1990 version? 

Lloyd Dobler would not watch this movie

MUST LOVE DOGS (2005)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Now here is something that could have had potential. Diane Lane and John Cusack in a romantic comedy set in the world of Internet dating. Yes, potential indeed and, sadly, potential does exist, just not in this movie. "Must Love Dogs" is a forgettable sham, a black hole of a movie that perpetrates the belief that love blossoms between the right people, even if they are wrong for each other. Actually, it seems to indicate that the slightest flaw in the opposite sex is enough reason to dismiss that person.

Diane Lane is the lonely bird, Sarah Nolan, who has just been through a bitter divorce. She is a preschool teacher who lives alone in a big, expansive house and unsuccessfully searches for men at the local supermarket. Sarah's sister (Elizabeth Perkins) insists she go online and place an ad, though her sister has already done it and posted Sarah's graduation photo. Sarah meets a few men, including the typical crybaby date, and all prove fruitless. That is until she meets Jake (John Cusack), who builds racing boats out of wood and continually watches "Dr. Zhivago." They both have dogs, though they do not own them personally. The date doesn't go well, and Sarah has her eye on a guy with a PHD (Dermot Mulroney). By the way, Sarah thinks he has a good butt - I don't and could care less. I think we all know where this is headed.

The best thing in this movie is Diane Lane, a helluva good actress who can do better (consider "A Walk on the Moon," which was a far more poignant and romantic film). She is too good for this movie and supplies it with certain nuances that are not in the script. She has a few standout scenes, especially when trying to look alluring at a supermarket - the key is in which department. But her Sarah character is not developed - what kind of guy is she looking for? It is clear that she has no tolerance for 40-something guys who bed 20-something women (it is what caused her divorce). By the end of the film, you'll wonder if knowing that you love the same movie is all it takes to marry Sarah.

John Cusack is also too good for this movie, or even in fluffier fluff like "Serendipity." Cusack possesses a charm that comes from his own unawareness that he is charming. The beauty of Cusack in films like "High Fidelity" or "Say Anything" is that he is humble and uncertain - that is his gift, his special knack for playing men who are not too comfortable in their own skins. In "Must Love Dogs," he plays an average joe whose only uncertainty is that he doesn't want to sell a boat that can be cut in half and displayed in a wall. Jake's unerring eye for honesty and his confidence builds for a rather superficial role for Cusack.

"Must Love Dogs" was written by Gary David Goldberg, an executive producer and writer of TV shows such as "M*A*S*H," "Family Ties" and "Spin City." Unfortunately, he's also responsible for the unashamedly (and thickly) sentimental "Dad" (I can't think of another movie that was as purely puerile in its emotional states as that one) and the movie that reads and feels and sounds like a commercial sitcom with commercial tie-ins, "Bye Bye Love." "Must Love Dogs" is not as teeth chattering as those, but certainly doesn't evoke the wit and polish of his TV classics.

This movie is strictly by-the-numbers in every department. There is the gay best friend, the family sing-along (in this case, "The Partridge Family" theme), the Meet Cute scenes, the obligatory dim-witted blonde bimbo, etc. There is no surprise, no depth of emotion, no real risks, and any movie that stars John Cusack and Diane Lane should require all three. It doesn't say much for such good actors when the high point is their searching for condoms - that shouldn't be the highlight of a teen comedy.

You must really, really, really love any kind of romantic comedy to love this movie. For a purely soft, harmless safe bet, "Must Love Dogs" may be enough. For myself, I'll stick with risk-takers like "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind." Even Lloyd Dobler would prefer the latter.

Breaking the Walls of a Small Town

DOGVILLE (2003)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

(Originally reviewed in 2004)

Ten Best Films of the 2000's

"Dogville" is a masterpiece of theatre, and intrinsically flawed cinematically. How can a film be both things? Well, consider that this is the avant-garde work of Danish director Lars von Trier, who made one of my favorite films of the 1990's, "Breaking the Waves." He is the creator of Dogme95, a group of directors who use found locations, shoot on hand-held video, and so on. "Dogville" fits the bill to a tee. It is as experimental as one can imagine, as any film can be, but its theatrical staging limits its goals. Still, despite some flaws, this is a remarkable achievement and a near-masterful morality tale as only von Trier can make.

The town is Dogville, a Rocky Mountains hamlet so hidden from the world that it only has one major road to get there, Elm Street. There are fifteen denizens in this town, including a retired doctor (Philip Baker Hall) who's also a hypochondriac, a blind man (Ben Gazzara) who loves to talk about sunlight and shadows, and the town's lone sexpot (Chloe Sevigny). The most significant character is Tom (Paul Bettany), a would-be writer who holds town meetings to discuss the "goodness" of people. Into this sleepy hamlet comes Grace (Nicole Kidman), a woman on the run from gangsters. Tom takes her in because he likes her and doesn't want her to climb the surface of a mountain to escape. Tom persuades the townspeople to accept Grace and use their innate goodness to give her a chance. They give her two weeks - if they like her, she can stay. If not, she better buy some good shoes and climb that damn mountain. Grace offers to help the townspeople - they are reluctant at first, but then she starts getting paid for unnecessary work. All is fine and dandy until the police come into town looking for Grace, who may be a bank robber. Is she a simple bank robber who's holding some stash somewhere, or is she more dangerous than the people of Dogville might have thought?

As I mentioned earlier, Lars von Trier could never make a straightforward film without indulging in stylistic strokes. The difference is that, this time, von Trier has taken his Dogme rules and relied on a simple set. As evidenced by the opening overhead shot, we notice that this is simply a soundstage with chalk outlines of character names and streets (even a chalk-outlined dog named Moses). There are no visible doors or walls - the chalk outlines are the only geographical indicators of this town. Even a small rock formation stands in for a mountain. We do see a real car, a real bench, some real beds, and a wall that stands in for the window display of a small shop. Outside of that, one has to suspend disbelief and assume that this is a real town. The problem is that it obviously resembles a theatrical setting where a play is about to transpire. I admire von Trier for taking this big a step but it limits and robs us of any real visual images (even Ingmar Bergman's "After the Rehearsal," which used sets, was never this stagy). There are only three striking images in the film. One is of Grace in a truck from an overhead angle as she sleeps while we see her through a transparent tarp. The other is the introduction of Grace at night as she walks calmly down the road while everyone sleeps. Lastly, I love the use of overhead shots in general, though von Trier doesn't allow for more inventive camera set-ups.

Such theatrical staginess, though, doesn't diminish the story - in some ways, it enhances it. This is strange because I just said that, visually, the film fails to work as a visual poem. Yet the story and characters emerge so clearly and provocatively that I didn't mind too much. The reason I give it more credit is because I expect von Trier to do something like this. Other directors might have failed where von Trier succeeds admirably.

The most powerful performance is clearly Nicole Kidman's, the most adventurous actress of our generation. She evokes the fragile, human, emotional side of Grace so well that we can't help but adore her. She is like a lost puppy seeking sanctuary from killers. The town of Dogville slowly embraces her, but then they abuse her, torture her, rape her, humiliate her, and then deny they are doing such wrongdoing. Kidman evokes so many layers to Grace (including a shocking character revelation) that it is easily the most brave piece of acting she has ever committed to film.

I also admire Paul Bettany as the intellectual Tom who falls in love with Grace. Tom's dilemma begins to stifle him - does he love the townspeople more than Grace or vice versa? If the townspeople want to do away with Grace, will he be on their side or is he on Grace's side? Bettany is so good at camouflaging what the character might really be thinking that he'll keep you in suspense as to his inevitable decision.

The rest of the cast is also excellent, including Lauren Bacall, who is feisty over her gooseberry bushes, Stellan Skarsgard as a sexually repressed apple orchard farmer, Jeremy Davies as a dim checkers player, Patricia Clarkson as a mousy, strict mother who is fiercely protective of her children, and James Caan as a mob boss, among others.

"Dogville" is compelling and fascinating from start to finish. It is the kind of dazzling, experimental work we expect from Lars von Trier. The ending comes in huffing and puffing when it should have climaxed smoothly. Still, despite its minor faults, "Dogville" is a rare, brave, challenging work.